Sea kayaking on turquoise waters

*Sorry for the distortion, those are GoPro photos (there was no way I was bringing my Nikon D90 with me on the kayak!).
  
**I have about a 5 days delay on our itinerary compared to the blog (we are currently in the Miami area) because I was waiting for JF to be done with the video below, where you can see us kayak in the Keys, enjoy the beautiful beaches, catch beads at Mardi Gras in New Orleans, hold baby gators and laugh at my scared to death self fighting imaginary venonimous snakes in the algea-filled clear blue water of Manatee Springs State Park!

Wow! That was an amazing sea kayak outing! The Keys have treated us very well. Sunny weather every day, warm turquoise water, flying fish schools (you can actually hear their wings flapping!), sting ray spotting and dolphin jumping spotting for Mara and JF...

I love the weather here, it's not too hot like Costa Rica and the nights are cool enough for a duvet. I really see why people love it here... If it wouldn't be for the damn no-see-ums (aka as devil flies, biting midges, sand flies or freaking-tiny-black-flies-that-get-through-the-tiniest-screen...). I have lived in Canada (among which 5 years in the Yukon) and was happy and relieved with my homeopathic SSSStingStop, but those tiny devils got me running to the nearest Walgreen and buy a big bottle of Caladryl (they now make some clear one, so you don't look like you did a bad paint touch up job all over yourself. How nice!). As soon as I opened it, 10 years of chilhood camping memories instantly came back to mind!! Ah, the power of smell!

The Keys were the perfect setting to watch the movie Nim's Island together (with Jodie Foster). We all loved it!

Key West

Une semaine dans les Keys ne serait pas complète sans une petite virée à Key West. La première fois que j'ai entendu parlé de Key West, c'était à 16 ans, dans les romans de Michel Tremblay, puis en faisant un travail sur Ernest Hemingway dans un cours de littérature, ce nom est sorti à nouveau... Un lieu mythique pour les écrivains?

A week in the Keys would not be complete without a day in Key West.The first time I heard about Key West it was in a novel by Michel Tremblay when I was 16. Then, when I wrote a paper on Ernest Hemingway for a litterature class, the name of this place came up again... A writers' mythic spot?

 Key West houses are really cute
Les maisons de Key West sont vraiment jolies

We soon realized that it would be hard to feel Key West charm during Spring Break and that Key West by night felt more like New Orleans during Mardi Gras than my preconcieved notion of a writers' mythic spot.

Nous avons assez vite constaté que ce serait difficile de s’imprégner du charme de Key West pendant la semaine de relâche et que Key West by night ressemblait plus à la Nouvelle-Orléans pendant Mardi Gras qu'à mon idée préconçue d'un lieu de prédilection pour les écrivains...

Lots of talented and not-so-talented folks were trying to gather the crowd on Mallory square before sunset to earn a few bucks.

Beaucoup d'artistes talentueux et moins talentueux essayaient d'attirer les foules au carré Mallory avant le coucher de soleil pour faire quelques dollars.

 

 

:: The café, a delicious vegetarian restaurant in Key West where we ended the day/The café,un succulent resto végé à Key West où nous avons terminé la journée ::

No one wants to give up who they are

The other day in a discussion on Sandra Dodd's Always Learning discussion list, Meredith wrote something that I wanted to share here:

There's a whole big set of parents who don't understand radical unschooling. Because they get along with their kids just fine - they have enough in common, there's enough natural sympathy in the relationship just from personalities, that things like chores or restricted tv or whatever don't hurt the relationship all that much. When kids and parents are natural sympathetic, the Continuum Concept works like a charm, Free Range kids are happy and secure, Waldorf kids look just like they do in the pictures. Any kind of parenting looks fantastic when kids and parents are naturally inclined to like the same things.

The trouble is when they aren't interested in the same things - when kids want and value things the parents don't. And that's when "free range" becomes "enforced autonomy" and other kinds of parenting become power struggles with parents asking "how do I get my kid to want what's good for him/her?" and "freedom" becomes "as much as you can bear" and not a jot more.

And that's the biggest challenge, in some ways, in terms of radical unschooling - because what we ask parents to do sounds a whole lot like "you must change who you are for the sake of your child." To an extent that Is what we're saying - stretch a little, soften a little, if you can't love what your child loves, you can still love your child and support him or her. That's all about change, and it's intimidating. No one wants to give up who they are.
There's a whole big set of parents who don't understand radical unschooling. Because they get along with their kids just fine - they have enough in common, there's enough natural sympathy in the relationship just from personalities, that things like chores or restricted tv or whatever don't hurt the relationship all that much. When kids and parents are natural sympathetic, the Continuum Concept works like a charm, Free Range kids are happy and secure, Waldorf kids look just like they do in the pictures. Any kind of parenting looks fantastic when kids and parents are naturally inclined to like the same things.

The trouble is when they aren't interested in the same things - when kids want and value things the parents don't. And that's when "free range" becomes "enforced autonomy" and other kinds of parenting become power struggles with parents asking "how do I get my kid to want what's good for him/her?" and "freedom" becomes "as much as you can bear" and not a jot more.

And that's the biggest challenge, in some ways, in terms of radical unschooling - because what we ask parents to do sounds a whole lot like "you must change who you are for the sake of your child." To an extent that Is what we're saying - stretch a little, soften a little, if you can't love what your child loves, you can still love your child and support him or her. That's all about change, and it's intimidating. No one wants to give up who they are.

When you look at my photos and read my stories, I am sure you must think this is such a perfect and happy life. And it is on many levels, but it requires a lot of compromising on our part and lots and lots of continual adjustment to stay sane some days. As much as we think (and most people think) that our girls are the luckiest girls in the world, they don't know any other lifestyle. They have no comparison point. They never went to school. They always had at least one of us with them full-time. So they find it quite frustrating when we have to both work at the same time for a couple of hours during the week if we have a rush (we mostly work at night or one at a time during the day)... I mean, my girls don't complain because they have homework to do, they do because they don't want to go to the beach... again. They complain not because they have to wash the dishes (no task required here, but they often join me, camping dish washing is fun!), but because they don't want to go biking... which is fine by me. Most days. But sometimes, I must say that I would love for them to be grateful for what they have... but I guess that might come much later... if it ever comes. For now, all I really want is for us to be happy together and enjoy this beautiful life of ours without too much bickering.

And of course, there are days where I'd love my girls to love what we love. It would make our life easier. But above all, I want them to discover what *they* truly love. What makes them sing. Not what I think is good for them (whatever that means). What feels good to them. And that, my friends, is really at the core of unschooling. Finding that place where no one has to give up who they are for the others, but can soften enough to support one another. 

Bahia Honda State Park, Florida Keys

Need I say more?

Curry Hammock State Park, Florida Keys

After camping for a week at Collier-Seminole State Park and canoeing in the beautiful mangroves with my mom and Paul on their last day in Florida, we drove across the enormous Everglades National Parks and reached Kendall (a suburb of Miami). When we had checked in November to see if we could still reserve a campsite in the Florida Keys, we were quite disappointed to realize that everything was either full (State parks) or totally out of price (RV parks). We knew that the Keys and most of Florida's South-East Coast (like the California Coast) are places where you cannot camp in parking lots and pretty much anywhere that is not a designated camping area (Utah/Arizona BLM land, we miss you!!). It was then pointless to drive to the keys to end up driving back the same day (some of the state parks have a couple of walk-in sites, but they usually fill in quite quickly and most of them are not big enough for our rig anyways). But, when we started looking a week ago, things started to move quite a bit thanks to Spring Break cancellations probably and we were able to score 5 nights in Bahia Honda State Park (supposedly the best state park of the keys)! We were ecstatic! 

Après avoir campé pendant une semaine au Collier-Seminole State Park et avoir fait du canot dans les magnifiques mangroves avec ma mère et Paul pendant leur dernière journée en Floride, nous avons traversé l'énorme Parc national des Everglades et sommes arrivés à Kendall (en banlieue de Miami). Quand nous avions regardé en novembre pour voir s'il était encore possible de réserver un terrain de camping dans les Keys de la Floride, nous avions été pas mal déçus de constater que tout était déjà pleins (en frais de parcs d'états) ou totalement hors de prix (RV parks). Nous savions que les Keys et que la côte Sud-Est de la Floride (comme la côte de la Californie) sont des endroits où il est interdit de camper dans les stationnements et pas mal partout où ce n'est pas une aire de camping désignée (on s'ennuie des terres du BLM du Utah et de l'Arizona). C'était donc inutile de conduire jusqu'aux Keys pour revenir le soir même (certains parcs d'état ont quelques sites premiers arrivés, premiers servis, mais ils se remplissent vite et la plupart ne sont pas assez longs pour nous de toute façon). Par contre, quand nous avons commencé à regarder il y a une semaine, les choses se sont mises à bouger sans doute à cause des annulations pour la semaine de relâche et nous avons eu la chance de réserver 5 nuits à Bahia Honda State Park (supposément le plus beau parc d'état des Keys!) Nous étions pas mal contents!

 ::Canoeing in Collier-Seminole State Park's mangroves with my mom
Canot dans les mangroves du Collier-Seminole State Park avec ma mère ::

So once in Kendall, we needed to find a place to camp for the night. A 5 minute Internet search directed us to BJ's, a chain similar to Costco, where JF went and asked (they took our name and plate number down so if the security guards came, they would not bother us) and bingo! We were set for the night. The next morning, we hit the Keys, hoping we would be as lucky for the night to come. After trying our luck at Long Key and John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park for cancellations or walk-ins without success, then to one of the RV park, where the cheapest campsite was $78 (let me talk to my wife sir before I choke...), we started to lose hope... It was 3:30 pm and we all needed to strech our legs and find a place to cook dinner (we had bought corn on the cob and on a camp stove, it takes a while to cook!), so we headed to Curry Hammock State Park for a last try. It was full, but we decided to go to the beach anyways. The girls played with hermit crabs and we had a nice dinner (Mathilde made us a fresh carrot, apples and ginger juice right by the beach since there was electricity at the picnic tables)... Then, JF met a nice women volunteer and she said we could stay in the parking lot of the beach for the night, use the campground showers and all the other facilities for $21. We were jumping up and down! We even had great neighbors from Quebec with whom we talked to the next morning. Life is good, I tell ya'!

Donc, à Kendall, il nous fallait trouver un endroit pour camper pour la nuit. Une petite recherche Internet de 5 minutes nous a dirigé au BJ's, une chaîne semblabe au Costco, où JF est entré pour s'informer (ils ont pris notre nom et notre numéro de plaque au cas où les gardes de sécurité viendraient, afin qu'ils nous laissent tranquille) et le tour était joué! Le lendemain matin, direction les Keys. Nous espérions être aussi chanceux que la veille. Après avoir tenté notre chance à Long Key et John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park pour des annulations ou des site premiers arrivés, premiers servis sans succès, puis à un des RV park où les terrains les moins chers étaient 78 $ (laissez-moi en parler à ma femme avant que je m'étouffe...), nous commencions à perdre espoir... Il était 15 h 30 et nous avions vraiment besoin de bouger et de trouver un endroit pour faire à souper (nous avions acheté du maïs en épis et sur un poêle de camping, c'est long!), alors nous nous sommes dirigé vers le prochain parc d'état des Keys, Curry Hammock. C'était plein, mais nous avons décidé d'aller à la plage quand même. Les filles ont joué avec les bernard l'ermite et nous avons mangé un bon souper (Mathilde nous a fait un bon jus de carottes, pommes et gingembre juste au bord de la plage, comme il y avait de l'électricité à côté des tables de pique-nique!)... Puis, JF a rencontré une gentille bénévole du parc et elle lui a dit que nous pouvions rester dans le stationnement de la plage pour la nuit, utiliser les douches du camping et les autres services pour 21 $. On sautait partout! On a même eu de super gentils voisins Québécois avec qui on a placoté tout plein le lendemain matin. La vie est bonne je vous dis!

At the fair

We thought that an evening at the old fashioned Marco Island fair would make for a perfect evening, but it turned out the prices were all but old fashioned and it was quite frustrating for the girls to pick only 2 rides while most other kids were riding with bracelets and kept going on and on... It's really hard for our girls to grasp the idea of work = money. They don't want us to work too much because it is time when we are not available to be with them, but they obviously have many desires... and when we explain to them that if we have less needs/desires, we can work less, well, they're obviously not there yet...

So here I am standing in the middle of the fair and we just had an amazing day with my Mom and Paul in Naples, we bought organic ice cream and vegan candies at Adelheidi's Organic Sweets, had a delicious dinner at Rosedale Brick oven and just spent $40 in tickets at the fair (quite an expensive day for us!) and Mathilde is having a fit because she wants to try the darts game (it's a tiny fair, so there is only the air rifle or the darts, neither of which she ever tried and it's $5 each). The thing is, in our house, everything comes in 3, so one try means $15 so each girl can play... and she goes on an on about how other families have money to play and have bracelets and we *never* have money... and I feel sad and frustrated... 

Most times, I am quite understanding of my girls desire to have it all. Don't we all have that desire deep down... Most of us never outgrow it, it just takes a different shape than a fair ginormous purple teddy bear... But sometimes, just sometimes, I think...

A little volunteering in a third world country maybe?

A day in Naples, Florida